Speedy Raimel Tapia still figuring it out

Art of stealing bases proving difficult for young outfielder

The Denver Post

Posted:
03/01/2018 08:14:33 PM MST

Updated:
03/01/2018 08:15:02 PM MST

Rockies outfielder Raimel Tapia, bottom, is tagged out by Angels second baseman Kaleb Cowart after attempting to steal in the third inning Tuesday at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. (John Leyba / The Denver Post)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — On a high-def TV, the cloud of dust kicked up by Raimel Tapia on a highlight reel video seemed to spill off the screen and into the Rockies spring clubhouse. Players on a black leather couch nearby flinched watching him fly around the bases and slide hands-first into third base.

The fastest player on Colorado's big-league roster can scoot. But speed alone will not steal a base. And in that same game against Arizona, Tapia was also thrown out trying to steal second. That never made the highlight reel.

This is a quandary. The Rockies stole the second-fewest bases in the National League last season, fewer than three a week by average. Tapia stole just five bases last season in 70 games. He's 0-for-3 trying to steal second this spring in six games.

Their fastest player cannot get the hang of swiping a bag. And as a base-stealing threat, the Rockies' scouting report is thin.

"Our list was probably shorter than some clubs," manager Bud Black said Thursday.

So Tapia is plowing forward. The Rockies are pushing him through their early Cactus League schedule in the leadoff position. He scouts as a traditional top-of-the-order batter, a bat-to-ball guy who can make contact and use his speed to reach base.

If Tapia can ably replace Charlie Blackmon as a leadoff hitter, and if he can reach second base to remove the double play threat, the Rockies hope to increase their run total with the power bats behind him, including Blackmon, Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story. This idea is counting on Tapia learning to steal.

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"I'm practicing in BP and when we play I'm watching the pitcher every time so when the game comes to me, it'll give me more opportunity," Tapia said Thursday, as the players behind the outfielder watched his highlights.

Only seven players have attempted to steal a base through the Rockies first seven spring games and three have been caught. But only Tapia has been nabbed more than once. He can't quite get to second base.

In the minor leagues, Tapia's success trying to steal bases was mixed. He stole 35 bases in 2014 at Single-A Asheville, but in seven years in the minors, Tapia stole fewer than two bases for every attempt that was caught.

There are two types of base-stealers. One is the guy who can sneak out a swipe with the element of surprise, players such as Arenado, who will not be described as fleet of foot, or Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona's hulking first baseman whose instinct and scouting study led him to steal 50 bases over the past two seasons.

The other type is the speedster. This is Tapia's category. Everybody in the ballpark knows they will try to steal, especially the pitcher and catcher, but they break anyway because you can't score if you don't gamble and their speed tilts the odds.

"You have to have the mindset that, 'I am a base-stealer. I want to steal,'" Black said.

Most of the Rockies' opportunities to run are built in without a sign from the dugout. Black gives most of his players a green light to steal second if they feel the time is right. "I trust the fact that they know the circumstances of the game," Black said. "There are a lot of guys who thrive on that freedom." He will only occasionally flash a stop sign.

With his speed, Tapia should be on a perpetual green light, if he can learn to do it. The Rockies paired him with first base coach Tony Diaz to learn the finer points of stealing bases. Diaz is teaching the 24-year-old when to pump the breaks and when to let loose, when to be careful and when to get risky.

"He'll never work on surprise because they know that he's fast," Black said. "He's learning these things."

The first step is key, that move after a pitcher breaks his motion with a pitch toward home. Rickey Henderson, baseball's record-holder for career stolen bases (1,406), seemed halfway down the line before the ball left a pitcher's hand. He stole 130 bases in the 1982 season alone.

"Jump is the biggest variable to successful base-stealers," Black said. "Do guys with speed get good jumps? There's an instinct to it."

Tapia is not the only runner the Rockies are relying on. Trevor Story has made a point of increasing his stolen base total this season, Black said. Ian Desmond, too. And Blackmon has proven he can swipe second — his 102 stolen bases over the past four seasons are, by far, the most on Colorado's roster.

But the Rockies could use a base-stealing threat at the top of their order, so they first looked toward Tapia, an obvious answer, their fastest player, the one who can kick up a wake of dust.

"All the good base stealers want to run," Black said. "They're not hesitant. They're not tentative. They have no fear of getting picked off or thrown out. They don't have that feeling of, 'I look bad.' That should never enter a base-stealer's mind.

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